1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to the field of trailer couplers. More particularly, the present invention relates to a device that couples a trailer to a hitch ball of a towing vehicle. Further, the invention relates to an improved device that allows for the coupling of a towed trailer to a hitch ball on a towing vehicle. The present invention relates to an improved trailer coupler with a unique latching system and a unique locking system that secures the towed trailer and that prevents accidental and unintentional disengagement of the trailer from the hitch ball of a towing vehicle. Moreover, the present invention relates to a trailer coupler that may not disengage from the hitch ball of a tow vehicle without completely unlocking the trailer coupler.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Applicant incorporates by reference herein U.S. application Ser. No. 11/186,195. The numbers of trailers that are currently towed behind vehicles has greatly increased with the acceptance and increase of Sport Utility Vehicles and recreation vehicles. This allows greater vacation and leisure choices to consumers. The amount of recreation vehicles such as motorcycles, small boats, large boats, jet skis, and other types of recreation vehicles and the like have become relatively commonplace in today's leisure based atmosphere. Many people take these recreation vehicles and/or sport vehicles to a destination for vacations, on weekends, or holidays. However, most of these recreational vehicles must be towed to their point of destination before they may be utilized for their intended purpose. Many individuals have acquired towing vehicles that allow them to tow their recreational devices to their point of destination. Many of these vehicles such as trucks or sport utility vehicles, have built-in towing balls and/or hitches straight from the manufacturer. However, in order to connect the towing vehicles to the device to be transported, it is necessary to coupler the towing vehicle to the transported device. A common type of coupling system that has evolved includes a hitch ball on the towing vehicle and a coupler on the trailer with jaws gripping the ball. However, a problem with this gripping system is that the individual can never be quite sure that the gripping system has properly engaged the hitch ball and that the system will not disengage from the hitch ball.
Another method that has been used to couple a towing vehicle to the desired towed device has been mating a socket receiver to a hitch ball. A popular variety uses a long, vertical sheathing attached to a female portion of the coupler, often referred to as gooseneck couplers. These types of couplers are often mated to a hitch ball mounted to a towing vehicle. In operation, a trailer with a gooseneck attachment is positioned over the ball and lowered onto the ball. The socket receiver should have a slightly larger diameter than the ball so that the receiver fully engages or mates with the ball. Generally, once the trailer is mated to the vehicle, a separate manual operation must be performed to ensure that the ball is locked into the receiving socket so that the receiver is no longer free to disengage from the ball.
A problem with this type of prior art coupler is that it involves multiple steps to ensure proper engagement, and even then the coupler may not be adequately locked about the ball, which leads to potentially dangerous situations where the trailer disengages while being towed.
Furthermore, in the prior art standard trailer hitches that use a similar mating system of a hitch ball attached to the rear of a vehicle, such as behind or on the rear bumper, these vehicles require the locking mechanism to also act as a support mechanism and often also a pulling function. These prior art trailer couplers are often difficult to lock and unlock and securing the absolute locking position is tenuous at best.
To solve this problem, many trailer couplers have a secondary locking system that requires the user to use a separate manual operation to lock the device when the ball and coupler have been latched together. If a person fails to lock the device, then a potentially dangerous situation of disengagement of the coupler may occur.
Thus, a need therefore exists for an improved trailer coupler that has a locking mechanism that ensures proper locking of the hitch ball before the latch may be secured. Moreover, a need exists for an improved trailer coupler that has an efficient, sleek design, but still incorporates a latching and locking system to secure a trailer to a towing vehicle.